Annan says Israel should probe its demolition of UN food warehouse in Gaza Strip

Reacting to the weekend destruction of a United Nations food warehouse in the Gaza Strip, Secretary-General Kofi Annan today called on Israel to investigate the incident.

"The Secretary-General is extremely concerned at the demolition by the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) of the World Food Programme (WFP) warehouse," a spokesman for Mr. Annan said in a press statement issued in New York.

According to WFP, over 500 tons of food was destroyed when the IDF entered Jaballia and blasted the agency's warehouse, which was clearly marked and held food for tens of thousands of Palestinians suffering from the current humanitarian crisis.

Mr. Annan voiced support WFP's request that the Israeli Government thoroughly investigate, and repeated his call on the Israeli authorities "to live up to their commitments and obligations to facilitate emergency humanitarian assistance in the occupied Palestinian territory," the spokesman said.